No Gel Goat Milk Soap Question

[Soapman Ryan]

I'm wanting to make a goat milk soap and have read that wooden molds hold heat causing the goat milk soap to partial gel. I'm wanting to make around 4lb. or 5 lbs. What type of mold should I be looking for to keep the heat from building up to prevent gelling? I love the look of a creamy white bar.

 

[meeplesoap]

I have never tried it, but I wonder if a silicone mold set into a water bath (just cold water, not frozen or icy) would keep it from heating up before you can get it into the freezer? Or you could try freezing the silicone mold itself, and only pulling it out right before you pour. I am interested to see what others' answers are, as I've never tried milk soap before but am curious to try!

 

[Lotus]

Similar to what Meep said, I would freeze your mold prior to adding your soap to it.

What I suggest is making two different 2 lb silicone molds for your one batch, if you possibly can. If you can make enough room in your freezer for both of them, do that, and then, pour your batches, keep them in there for at least 24 hours. I'm impatient, and will unmold early, but I don't suggest that, from experience. I suggest then transferring to the frig, if you can then make room. I don't have issues here, if I can cut soon enough, but you can have worse problems cutting if your soap is too frozen. Just recently, I cut a soap that was way too soft, just out of the freezer. My issue was that the soap really wasn't ready, and while it cut, I got crumbliness from the frozen insides of the soap that wasn't thawed enough. Although, the thawed parts were equally not ready yet. So definitely keep it cold and wait for readiness. This was a goat's milk (among many other things) soap I'm talking about.

 

[Lynnz]

I have been making goatsmilk soap for yonks and have not been able to achieve a really white bar at all but there are those that can. I always end up with a light tan even without gelling. To prevent gel I wouldn't personally soap more than 2lb the bulkier your batch the harder it is to prevent partial gel

 

[kazmi]

Do the overheating and color issues with milk soaps also apply to powdered goatsmilk (or buttermilk)?

 

[ghia61]

I use powdered gm and my soap always darkens. I mix it with some of the oils from the batch and add to batter at light trace.

 

[Aunt Polly]

I recently made a gm soap, no gel, that has stayed nicely white. I think it is the oils I used: coconut oil. lard, refined olive oil and a FO that does not discolor. Added lye s-l-o-w-l-y to frozen gm in an ice water bath so the goat milk would not discolor. Used wooden mold from freezer, poured soap, returned to freezer. This was a 2 lb mold.

 

[lsg]

I think the trick is soaping as cool as possible and sticking the mold in the freezer as soon as the soap is poured. You could line a cardboard box with thin trash bags like a slab mold. That would not hold as much heat as a wood mold.

 

[kazmi]

I use powdered gm and my soap always darkens. I mix it with some of the oils from the batch and add to batter at light trace.

thx ghia! Do you experience any heating issues when you use powdered gm?

 

[Soapman Ryan]

I recently made a gm soap, no gel, that has stayed nicely white. I think it is the oils I used: coconut oil. lard, refined olive oil and a FO that does not discolor. Added lye s-l-o-w-l-y to frozen gm in an ice water bath so the goat milk would not discolor. Used wooden mold from freezer, poured soap, returned to freezer. This was a 2 lb mold.

Thanks for letting me know this. Since I already have wood molds I'll give this a try. I'll put the wood mold in the freezer the night before, while the goat milk is freezing. As, others have mentioned, I will keep the batches small around 2lbs.

 

[ghia61]

Kazmi - I've had a 2lb loaf do a mini volcano once, perhaps because of my inexperience in soaping at the time! Since I soap only for personal use, I don't concern myself with the color of the bars. I just leave the mold out in a well ventilated area, uncovered and a sheet of plastic under the mold just incase! Soaps come out just fine, all nice and gelled.

 

[kazmi]

Thanks Ghia! wasn't sure if powdered would effect temps as much as the regular stuff.

 

[Skatergirl46]

I'm wondering if anyone has tried using a slab type mold for this, and if it stays cool enough to avoid gelling. I'm a newb. and I have never made GM soap, but I am very interested in doing so. I have a silicone baking pan that I never use for baking. It's a square one about 9" x 9". I think I'll be trying this at some point. I'm very interested in GM soap. I just love the creamyness of it and how it makes my skin feel.

 

[Ruthie]

I do not have a slab mold, but have tried it with individual molds (stars) and they did not gel. Guess that does not tell you if a slab, would, though.

 

[Meliv]

I just made a 2lb batch of goat milk using Coconut, lard, olive and castor. I have a wooden mold with a silicone liner that I froze over night. I used frozen GM, and waited until my oils were cooled off, added my lye slowly to the frozen goatmilk and just kept stirring the lye mixture. I then froze the whole soap in the mold over night and then took it out and let it sit in just the silicone mold until it was hard enough to cut. Just remember if you don't gel the soap, it takes longer for the lye to do it's thing and could remain zappy for several days. The results are worth it to me. It looks like cream. I also used an alkanet infused olive oil and a fragrance that soaps beautifully so I ended up with a really nice, creamy yellow bar. I can't wait for it to cure

 

[kazmi]

Meliv that sounds great. Would love to see pics.

 

[kazmi]

Skatergirl, I think avoiding gel is relatively simple with a slab mold since you have so much surface area for the soap to cool off. You may want to stick your poured soap in the fridge or freezer just to be sure.